All hail the throne October 31, 2009

Check out the new goods at the house!

That’s right, new thrones!  Toto Aquia III dual flush, to be exact.  But that heinous toilet seat has got to go.  The plumber used an off brand seat, and as you can see it hangs over the edge and isn’t quite the same white.  I’m so picky about toilet seats, not even joking.  It should look like this:

My pimp throne

Bet you love the fact that we kept the heinous vinyl underneath the throne.  The budget blew up, we threw the idea of new vinyl out, and ended up going over budget anyway 😐  Boo.

Here’s the living room.  Yes, that’s a vintage Oreck upright in there.  Thing is a sucking beast!!!  We inherited that, and a big Eureka (behind it).  I think I may keep the Oreck.  We moved all that stuff today so the carpet can go in tomorrow. 

And the kitchen….not quite finished, but almost there.  LOVE LOVE LOVE the new stuff—sink, faucet, instant hot/cold, cooktop, and counters.

A few weeks ago I finally took my giant stash of non-curbside recyclable plastics to a local depot, Far West Fibers.  So easy to drop it off!!  They only request that you separate plastic film from rigid plastics.  Done and done!  BTW, the backseat was also crammed full.  Now I just need to take in the styrofoam…  I collect these items from our personal use and from our office; this stash had been piling since almost the beginning of the year.  Hooray for diverting crap from the landfill and recycling instead! 🙂

   

The other day Chris and I saw this while driving. Rope holding the license plate holding the bumper up with bungee cords.  Why didn’t I think of that?

 

Today we picked up a sweet new treat at Costco.  Jordan knows what I’m talking ’bout.  We’ll share next week once the place is set up.  Tomorrow we start seriously packing.  Like, get more than 8 boxes packed.  In fact, I kind of hope we only have like 8 boxes left to pack after all is said and done.  Wish me luck!

As far as food goes, here were the day’s eats:

Breakfast—Kashi Go Lean mixed with crack (Pumpkin Flax granola), raisins, cinnamon, and almond milk. 

Lunch—leftover pizza from last night: kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, parm.

Snacks—cheese samples at Costco: Bandon cheddar, Jarlsberg Swiss, Kerrygold Irish cheddar, and cambozola of some sort. 

Dinner—Grilled cheese with fries (!) 

Quite a cheesy, carby day.  Um, I guess there was a semblance of veggies in there somewhere 😉

She’s alive! October 30, 2009

Dude, I haven’t posted in like over a month.  Where have I been you say?  Inundated at work, fixing up the house, and zapped of brain power to do much more.  But, things are going well at least!  Chris and I move into our new abode next Saturday, and I have like 8 boxes packed.  Gulp.

I get to be kind of a bitch when the important, stressful events in life come up.  I want to be all packed (in an organized way) before the moving day, get up early, and get all the shiot moved ASAP.  That way there’s more time at the end of the day to get the basics unpacked and chill.  But, Chris is the type that won’t be packed on time, will want to wake up at noon, then take like two hours to “wake up”, throw some shit in a box, and then start the move.  Are you fucking kidding me, I say??!!  General Gettheshitmoved here ain’t gonna let that happen! 

So, what’s been going on the last month+?  Not a lot of pictures, but some fun ones indeed.  I turned 28 on October 16, and am feeling a little odd now that I’m so close to 30.  Not bad, just different I think.  I hear someone say they’re 20 or 22 and feel like I’m in a whole different generation.  At least I can enjoy a good margarita and shamelessly sport a sombrero 😉

Here’s some of what I’ve been enjoying lately:

F*ck ups at the house on the HVAC install.  We used a reputable company we’ve worked with for a long time, and who just installed A/C at my mom’s this summer.  Uh, did they forget how to do their job?  Crappy A/C lineset, stained my laundry room floor, put ugly vents on the outside of the house (“they’ll be nearly invisible” my ass!), burned the siding, took forever… Everything but the floor was fixed.  I asked for $200 off the bill b/c of the floor, the owner was only wanting to offer $100, and now he’s ignoring my calls.  Fucker.  Le sigh, as Erin would say.

Chris in the dining room (used to be a family room).  No more wallpaper!

Looking at the more positive side of things….wall paper removal and drywall repair went really well, painting is wrapping up (this biotch ain’t afraid of color!), the kitchen counter went in yesterday, plumbing work is going on today, carpet on Sunday, lights installed soon.  So close to being done!  Walking into the house is so different, I almost cried the other day. 

There used to be a soffit here! (Powder bath)

Have any of you moved into a house a family member used to own?  At first I felt really awkward even thinking of making changes, like my grandmother would be upset or something.  But, more and more I became comfortable with the changes we’re making, and I’m glad we’re embracing the house my grandparents built. 

Food and exercise-wise I’ve been a lazy overeater!  Hardly working out, eating lots o’ crap, and even some chicken (!!!).  When the cold weather came in I really wanted soup, so when we hit up Mexican I ordered tortilla soup.  Yeah, that’s happened a few times now 😐

For my birthday dinner my family went out to Typhoon! Restaurant, a Thai delight.  Eating vegetarian here is rather tough when you crave curry and their pumpkin specialties, so I opted to order what I wanted, fish sauce and all.  The kabocha soup and pineapple curry were to die for 🙂 

I feel rather bad eating the chicken and fish sauce foods.  The food has been good, too, making it hard to resist the tortilla soup especially.  I seem to have an affinity for poultry 😐  With Thanksgiving coming up, I’m not sure if I’ll indulge in the meaty eats or stay veggie.  It’s going to be a doosy.

On Sunday I made soup!  No recipe in mind, just thoughts of what may create a savory vegan delight.  Behold, the weirdest soup ever:

Brussels sprouts, onion, mushrooms, green beans, a jar of tomatoes & their juice, water, Italian herbs, cayenne pepper, and black pepper.  Although it sounds a fright, it turned out really well!  I still have one serving left for lunch today.  I found than un-veganizing it with some parm makes it even more fab 😉

Anyone try those new Reebok EasyTone shoes yet?  I hate the commercial, but am intrigued by the technology.

I’m having some issues with my camera uploading pics to the computer, and this post has gone on quite long already, so I leave you to your weekend!  Have a great rest of your Friday and have a safe and happy Halloween!  Doing anything fun to celebrate?

The death of Gourmet :( October 5, 2009

There was a horrid news story on Yahoo Finance today… Chris called and left me a message with the bad news, and I wasn’t prepared for it to be the loss of Gourmet! 😦 The oldest food magazine in our country goes kaput, a victim of fallen ad revenue.

I love Gourmet magazine with a passion, and look forward to receiving it every month and poring over it like 10 times. The photography, writing, and recipes are always fabulous. I especially love how there aren’t any words on the front–just beautiful, glorious pictures.

I’m feeling a little lost…what is a girl to do without her Gourmet!?!? I’ve kept every issue since I first subscribed about 5 years ago. I suppose I’ll always have those for the fond memories….

http://www.gourmet.com

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Ad-slump-leads-Gourmet-3-apf-1946623037.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=6&asset=&ccode=